Testing Patience
by vivid-imagination14
Summary: Sakura left Konoha for unexplained reasons. Now she searches for Orochimaru to become his apprentice, but why? Sasuke is greatly disturbed by Sakura's new attitude and she's keeping secrets.....takes place after timeskip. Maybe SasuSaku later...REVIEW!
1. The Arrival

Hey everyone! This is my first story! I was thinking that I wanted it to be a One Shot but maybe if I get reviews telling me to continue, I'll most likely put up another chapter. I already have the scene and everything!! haha! Well hope you like it! Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...the plot however, I do. MWAHAHA!! Chapter One 

The three sound nin waited as the hooded stranger strode through the corridors, finally reaching a pair of large, elegant, jade-encrusted double doors. The stranger stopped in front of the grand entryway and grinned, "Finally…", and opened the door on the left. The stranger took a few steps into the room and stopped when the three nins shifted around to look at their visitor. It was awkwardly silent as they scowled at the stranger and the stranger grinned back from under his hood.

"What purpose do you have coming here?" The one on the left stated. The stranger recognized him from days when they were still genin. _Kabuto Yakushi, _the stranger began to think to himself.

"…"

"Well?"

The stranger grinned wider and started to chuckle, "I have come to ask if I may serve as Orochimaru-sama's apprentice."

Two of the nin froze as they heard the strangers voice.

"Ku kukuku…you are very daring, coming here on your own…and to ask for apprentice-ship…you are a brave young girl…" the long haired one in the middle praised.

"Thank yo-", the girl was interrupted.

"Sakura, ga?" This time it was the one on the right to speak.

"Look's like I got found out," she stated as she lowered her hood to reveal short pink locks and emerald green eyes. She kept the same grin on her face as she spoke, "Sorry to intrude like this, but it seemed this was the only appropriate place to go."

"What do you mean by 'only appropriate place to go'….What's the real reason you're here?" The raven haired nin on the right spoke again.

"Now, now…let's not waste time asking questions that were already answered." He frowned even further at her snide remark.

"Alright then, answer us this. Why did you leave Konoha?" Kabuto chimed in.

She looked at the white haired, medic-nin and started to reply, "Well, I don't believe it's any of your buisi-" and got cut off by the nin on the right again.

"Answer the question!"

Without moving she shifted her gaze to man on the right. Then her grin grew even wider. "Ooh, is someone getting a little…testy?" He narrowed his eyes into near-slits.

"Tell us.", he threatened.

"Alright then," she paused, " to put it simply, let's just say…heh…that dead weight is never wanted." The chill in her voice, that seemed to hang over the words "dead weight", left the air in the room with a tense crackel of electricity. As she spoke, she stepped closer and closer to the spikey haired nin, until she was about a foot away from his face.

She put on a fake expression of sadness and continued, "Come now, you of all people should know how it feels.." she slowly inched closer and her voice got quieter but was still heard by the other silent two in the room, "…pain…suffering……loneliness," his expression shifted to pure anger as her face shifted back to it's grin, "..betrayal." He finally snapped and sent her flying across the room with a single punch.

"Now Sasuke-kun, that's no way to treat our guests." Orochimaru stated amusedly.

Sakura slowly got up staring at Sasuke with amusement in her eyes, she wiped the blood away from her mouth with the back of her hand and returned the grin back to it's ill-suiting position. Then, her face contorted into an evil excitement and she disappered. BANG! She had Sasuke pinned to opposite wall, and she had made it look easy. Her right forearm up across his throat and her hand gripping the fabric on his left shoulder; her left hand holding a kunai aimed straight at his heart.

"Not so fun being the weak-link, is it…Sa-suke-kun." She taunted right in his face. He would have taken her out had Orochimaru not interfeared with-

"That's enough Sakura-chan, I'll take you as my apprentice. Now release Sasuke-kun. I still need him." Orochimaru stated with an eerily happy smirk.

It took a couple of seconds of glaring competition before she let him go; a little too aggressively and made a small cut on his bare chest.

"Something to remember me by." She whispered seductively in his ear. Something was wrong and he knew it. This was not the Sakura he knew, she wouldn't be so rude and she defiantly wouldn't be so bold. _Something else happened that she's not telling, _he thought.

"Kabuto-kun, show Sakura-chan her new room." Orochimaru looked at Sakura and Sasuke, "and I'll see you two tomorrow morning. You're all dismissed." With their dismissal they left to their rooms.

"Sakura-san, you're knew room will be across from Sasuke-kun's. There is a private bathroom in your room as well as fresh towels. There is a library just down the hall to the left, the first door to the right, that's where I will be most of the time. You will be called tomorrow morning by myself, or one of our servants and you will be escorted to the training grounds, after that you're on your own. If you have any questions, you can ask me anytime." Kabuto finished his speech just as they reached the rooms.

"Hai, arigotou Kabuto-san." She smiled a light smile, he smiled back and then poofed away leaving the former teammates to be left alone.

"Well," Sakura stretched lazily, "I'm kinda tired, I think I'm gonna go take a na-" she was almost inside her room before he interrupted her.

"Sakura."

"Hmm?"

"What did they say about you to make you act like this?" Sasuke asked, uncaringly.

A serious air engulfed the space around them. She hung her head so that her bangs were covering her eyes. "Nothing." She mumbled.

"You're lying."

Her head snapped up, rage in her eyes, "I said nothing, OKAY?...besides," she said looking away, "when have you ever cared about my life?"

"…"

"Just what I thought." She glared up at him, "You're so annoying." With that she turned on her heel and entered her room slamming the door shut in a remembering Uchiha's face. He was left wide-eyed before returning his normal stoic expression and entered his room.

Okay tell me what you think! Flames are welcome I suppose...but let's just call them "creative critisism" Well, Ja ne! 


	2. Reactions

**Hey you guys!! Thanks for reviewing!! Okay so, as you can see I decided to keep going with the story….This is my first story so any comments on things I can work on are welcome….as of this point I'm unsure if this is going to be a SasuSaku Fic. We'll see where the plot takes us, shall we? XDDD!!! In case anyone was wondering this story takes place after the time skip…enjoy!**

**Chapter 2**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

As soon as Sakura closed the door she slumped against it in a sign of relief. She waited for the loud clank of the wooden door across the hall and found it didn't take long before she could release her breath.

She relaxed and stood up straight and began to look around the room. It wasn't small nor was it big. The bathroom Kabuto mentioned earlier was behind the doorway on the left side of the room and she noticed it had a lock. _Well that's a relief…._she thought. Her gaze shifted across the room to a medium sized dresser. There were no clocks or knick-knacks on it, but a solitary candlestick in its holder. On the right of the dresser was a sad looking bed shoved into the corner, which had probably seen better days. _Well this guy __is__ an S-class missing nin…I suppose he can't worry himself with things such as the quality of the beds…_Sakura rambled off in her head. Shoved into the corner across from the bed was a dusty, old desk with a wooden chair. The only source of light in the room was from a few candlesticks placed here or there around the room, hanging from rusty sconces on the walls.

She took off her travel backpack and walked across the room to the dresser where she unpacked her scrolls and medicines and extra clothes, to place them in the musty drawers. She took off her travel cloak and draped it over the back of the chair and returned to her bag. She continued to unpack her things when she came across an old photo of the day she became a genin, with her two other teammates and sensei. _Team 7. We were like a family…_she struggled with the words in her head. She noticed a crack in the glass that was framing the old portrait.

"Shoot!" she muttered, yet she realized it was unfixable and placed it on the dresser next to her bed. She sat on the old, rough sheets on the mattress and stared unfocused into the picture.

"_Naruto! What are you doing now? You're going to get us in trouble!" a young, pink haired kunoichi yelled at the blonde genin who was currently placing a chalkboard eraser in the top of the door frame, creating a booby trap for whoever came into the room._

_"What?!" he snapped back, "It's his fault for being this late!"_

_"Hmph, there's no way a nin of his level could fall for such a simple booby trap" the raven haired member of their team muttered._

_"What was that teme?! You think you can d-" the young Naruto yelled, furious before he was cut off._

_The door began to open when a head popped through the doorway and_

_PLAF!_

_The chalkboard eraser had fallen perfectly on top of their new sensei's head. Naruto stood and grinned at the genius of his plan while Sasuke and Sakura looked stunned that a jonin could fall for such a simple trick._

_"I'm sorry Sensei! I tried to stop him bu-" Sakura was cut off by her sensei._

_"Well, judging on my first impression of you all" he smiled kindly at them beneath his mask; his only visible shut and curved into something like an upside-down smile, "I hate you!"_

_The three genin stood there, looks of utter shock on their faces._

Sakura smiled sadly at the old memory and closed her eyes. She opened them to a warm streak falling down her cheek. She was shocked. _Tears?_ Why was she crying? No one in Konoha deserved her tears and certainly no one here, yet she found she couldn't stop as more tears streaked across her pale skin. _Damn it!!_ She thought furiously, rubbing at her eyes. _I don't want to think about that!_ Her mind slowly started to drift back to the day before she left Konoha. _Stop! Stop!_

"STOP!!!" she screeched. _Damn it!_ She thought again. She hurried to the bathroom to wash off her face when she heard someone knocking on her door.

"Sakura-san? Is everything okay in there?" the voice sounded concerned but it was strained and she knew it. She recognized the voice as Kabuto's and replied back through the door.

"Yeah, everything's fine!" she thought quickly to make an excuse for her outburst, "I was trying to get the bath water running but when I tried to shut it off, it wouldn't stop running!" she opened the door to talk to Kabuto so she wouldn't have to yell, "I finally got it stopped befo-" she was cut short by the person who now appeared from across the hall. Sakura narrowed her eyes and slammed the door closed again, nearly ripping it off it's hinges in the process.

"Well Sasuke-kun, it's seems you aren't very high on Sakura-san's list of importance, are you?" he grinned over his shoulder at the raven-haired figure.

"Hn…just tell her to keep it down." Sasuke demanded. He was about to close his door again when Sakura's suddenly flew open. She stood in the doorway, clearly pissed off about something.

"YOU!!!" she shrieked, venom was almost dripping from her mouth, "YOU THINK YOU'RE SO COOL! WELL LISTEN, BUDDY! I WILL NOT KEEP IT DOWN!!!

"Sakura-san pleas-" Kabuto tried to get the rampaging woman to calm down, but she continued her screams at Sasuke.

"You…bastard! Thinking you own the world or something!" Kabuto was glad that her yells subsided into silent mumbles. She was obviously aware she was creating a ruckus and had decided to tone it down a bit.

Though Sasuke's face didn't show it, he was surprised at her sudden change of attitude. Then he noticed her eyes stared to get a little watery.

_NO!! _Sakura screamed inside her head, but it was to late. A single tear stained the floor at her feet. Her face showed both fury and shock at what just happened. Her hand shot up to wipe the rest of the tears away angrily. _Damn it! This wasn't supposed to happen!!_ Her rage was bubbling up at her reaction. Before anyone could speak she had blown a mini-crater in the wall next to her door and she had entered her room without looking back.

Kabuto stood there scowling knowing full well that he would be the one to fix that mess, before walking back down the hall to the library.

Sasuke couldn't help but smirk at the large crevice in the wall. He was almost eager to find out much she had improved over the last two and a half years. He sad nothing and again turned to enter his room, this time uninterrupted.

Sakura was startled awake by loud and rough banging on her door. She groaned at the morning sun, which was barely peeking over horizon, outside her window.

"Sakura-san, it's time for your morning training!" It was Kabuto.

"All right! I'll be out in a sec." she called back, trying to clear the grogginess from her head and throat. Without hesitating she pulled out a fresh set of clothes and changed quickly into her usual outfit. A red shirt with the Haruno insignia on the center of the back. A pair of black, spandex shorts with her slitted tan skirt over the top. Her knee high black boots, her tan elbow guards and her red hitai-leaf headband holding back her pink locks, _but wait._ She froze._ Since I'm really not apart of Konoha anymore should I wear this?_ She contemplated a bit but decided against it; she would find something for her hair later.

Sakura ran into the bathroom quick and washed her face then ran her fingers through her short, tangled hair to create a somewhat controlled look. She headed back out into her room to grab her shuriken holster and tan pouch. Sakura attached both to their usual spots, pulled out a few scrolls from one of the drawers in her dresser, placed them in her small tan bag that served like a back pocket and left the room.

Outside she found Kabuto leaning against the opposite wall.

"You ready?" He smiled at her.

_Even if it is fake, he's still really kind, _she decided in her head."Yup, I think so." She smiled back. If he was going to play nice, she might as well play along. He started to walk away.

"Wait, but don't we have to wait for Mr. Sunshine?" She asked sarcastically.

"No. You forget he's been here longer than you, plus he's always out there early. I suspect he can't wait to train." He kindly replied back.

"Oh, okay…" and with that she ran after Kabuto. She found herself frowning inwardly at the thought of having to train with Sasuke. _No doubt he's going to try and take it easy on me, _she spat inside her mind. She clenched her fist tightly._ Well, let's see how he takes it when I knock the wind out of him!_ She smirked at the images of her triumph flashing through her mind.

"All right. Here we are! The Training Grounds…" Sakura looked up as Kabuto addressed the large clearing in front of them.

"Thank You, Kabuto-san." Sakura nodded to him.

"You're welcome, but please call me –kun." He replied lightly.

"Ah, then thank you Kabuto-kun." She said with fake kindness, though it was hard to tell. With that he walked back into the lair.

Sakura stood and looked around the clearing when she noticed two figures standing on the edge near the tall trees in front of her. She began to make her way towards them. She recognized them as Orochimaru and Sasuke.

"So Sakura-chan, are you ready to begin your first day of training?" The snake sanin asked in his usual snake-like, clear voice. She nodded. "All right then, I wish to see how strong you are. I would like to see you fight Sasuke-kun."

She raised an eyebrow but nodded still and stole a glance at Sasuke. _Yup, same ol' stoic face…_

"All right then…just head out further in the clearing and you may begin." Orochimaru stated with his too-friendly grin.

The two opponents strode out into the clearing and found themselves, each their own starting position. Sakura pulled out her gloves and slid them on. Sasuke just stood watching her. Sakura couldn't help but grin wickedly, _this is going to be fun, _she thought.

Sakura pulled back into her fighting stance. Right fist pulled back at the hip, left arm out in front, body turned sideways away from the attacker, knees bent slightly, and majority of the weight on your right leg. She rattled all this off in her head, after many lessons with Tsunade-shishou it was hard to forget. Sasuke still just stood there. _Is he serious? If he's taking it easy on me, he's in for a big surprise!_

Without warning she took off towards the Uchiha. Her voice helping her release a decent amount of chakra to her fist and get rid her anger.

"HuuuuuuuuuUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAHHHHHHH!" She screamed as her fist collided with the ground creating a massive crater. Boulders and debris were flying everywhere. _He must have jumped_. She looked towards the sky and found her theory to be correct. She did a few hand signals created a clone. Sakura grabbed her clone's hand spun in a circle and flung herself into the air, straight towards the Uchiha. _At least he hasn't activated his sharingan yet…_she thought

Sasuke scoffed at her childish attack. He started to pull out his sword when he felt the presence behind him. _Behind?_ He thought. He made to turn around but it was too late. Two fists clenched togther smashed down on his back and sent him flying towards the earth.

BOOM!!! Sasuke had collided with the ground, causing another crater and a lot of dust and smoke. Sakura landed a few yards away from the crater. Something wasn't right. A breeze blew in a pushed the smoke away to reveal an empty depression in the earth.

_Damn!! _She screamed inwardly, but she knew instantly where he was and did a few flips to land in the middle of the crater and face where she was just standing. _Predictable,_ She thought. There, standing right where she had been seconds ago, was Sasuke, sharingan activated. She grinned, _finally!_ She had him. This is just what she wanted, a reaction. She looked to his face and saw his brows had creased. He was getting angry. _Perfect, _she thought, _now he'll start taking me seriously!_

_WHAT THE- _Sakura started to think but then felt his presence behind her. She looked behind her shoulder wide-eyed and up into the angry sharingan. _Did he just disape- _ but before she could finish her thought her had sent her flying across the clearing with a lighting-speed kick.

Sakura collided with the ground and tumbled and rolled a few yards. She was now over a couple of 100 yards away from Sasuke; she could sense it. _Not only are his movements fast, _she noted in her mind, _his hits are also powerful. _It took her few tries to shake the dizzy feeling and slowly get into a crouch with one knee and a hand touching the ground for support. _The rate at which I flew from that kick wasn't normal, _she calculated, _I've got burns from the impacts with the ground. _She winced as she felt a burn in the middle of her back. _At least nothings broken. It could've been a lot worse. There's just a few scratches so I won't have to heal my self…good, _she added, _the longer I can hold out without healing myself, the better. Kunoichi Rule #13: Always have the elements of surprise on your side._ She grinned as she quickly thought of her old school days, before turning back to her opponent, who was still standing there, trying to predict her next move.

She needed a plan. _Well, he has a sword, but why doesn't he use it? Maybe he's still going easy on me. No, that last kick was certainly not merciful. Hmm…I could try going in with a punch again, but he has his sharingan activated so he would be able to dodge it easily. He'll be able to tell which one is me if I use a clone or substitution jutsu, so that's out. Think. Think! Where would he have a blind spot? _She suddenly got it. She knew what to do.

Sasuke stood on the other side of the clearing, eyeing her carefully as she stood up. Her movements were slower due to his sharingan. He could see every move she was making.

Sakura pulled a kunai from her pouch. She drew her hands together and formed a single hand-signal. She was masking her chakra._ What's she doing? That won't help at all. I can clearly see her. _Sasuke turned the information over in his head when suddenly she took off. _I see…_Sasuke thought…_so you were masking your chakra to throw me off. Too bad it won't work. I can see you. _

Sakura had taken off to the right coming in at a wide angle. Kunai in her left hand, right hand balled into a fist. She approached him fast and he should know signs of moving. She swung her kunai at him first to the right and he dodged it by moving backwards. She swung again at him with the kunai, this time to the left. He again moved backwards, but instead found himself backed against a tree.

Sakura yelled her battle cry again and this time swung her fist. He made a move to escape to his right when he noticed she had swung her kunai back and dug it into the tree creating a block. He was stuck.

Sakura's fist collided so hard she couldn't tell what she hit but there's no way he escaped. She brought her fist down into the ground and got the effect she was looking for. She jumped back from her attack and watched as trees were being uprooted for miles, boulders the size of the kage's heads, back in Konoha, were being tossed around as if they were little pieces of lettuce in a salad, and a crater a half a mile deep was created right before her very eyes.

She grinned at her work. It was impressive, but then again, she hadn't been learning from an old geezer either.

The earth had settled back down and she was standing a few feet back from the crater of impact and stared down at the deepest part, waiting. It took a few minutes but she eventually saw movement under the rock. _Good._ She had hit him. A rough looking Sasuke emerged seconds later from under the rubble and glared up at the pink haired kunoichi before him. He was in tough shape. The impact of her hit wasn't just like a poke in the side. He had to admit. It hurt.

He stood a little straighter and pulled out his katana. Sakura's eyes widened and she realized he had disappeared again only to appear right in front of her a couple of feet away. _Crap!_ She thought. She didn't have time to dodge the attack; she reached for her shuriken holster and pulled one out.

Sakura moved to her right hoping he would miss a vital organ or miss her all together. She swung her right hand out with the shuriken and slashed for his face.

They stopped.

Each stood where they were frozen to the spot.

Sasuke's katana had pierced through her middle, to the left of her stomach. He's missed her vital points but she was still bleeding heavily. He looked at her eyes; she was in pain he could tell but she was smiling at him, or more so, at his cheek than anything. That's when he noticed blood was dripping on his shirt.

Sakura looked at Sasuke with a weak smile. She had got him, not by much, but enough to draw blood. It wouldn't scar or anything, heavens no! It was only a scratch, but that was enough for her.

She felt dizzy and knew she was losing a lot of blood. She dropped down to her knees and closed her eyes. She grabbed the blade and pulled it out to let it fall limp in Sasuke's hand.

"GAH!" she cringed at the pain, but concentrated non-the less. Sakura put her hands palms together almost like she was praying. She gathered chakra to her hands and put it the wound. Repairing it and stitching it back together with her chakra. She'd stopped the bleeding but had to keep repairing the insides.

Sasuke stood and watched as Sakura healed her wound. _I see…so she has changed, _he thought.

Sakura realized her chakra levels were extremely low from the last blast and that if she continued she would probably faint. _There's no way I'm fainting in front of this guy, _She thought to herself. She stopped after a few seconds and began to stand up only to feel an immense head rush and began to fall over only to have two strong arms pull her back up and keep her steady.

Sakura opened her dim emerald orbs and found herself staring into onyx ones.

Rage soon filled her eyes and she screamed, " GET OFF ME! You don't think I'm strong enough to stand on my own?!" Sasuke let go of her and turned to walk back where Orochiamru was standing. "WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING? GET BACK HERE AND FIGHT!!" she found herself following him to Orochimaru still ranting.

"Kukuku…That's enough, Sakura-chan, I've seen enough. You don't have to fight anymore. I can see you're plenty strong enough for that…" Orochimaru cooed.

"Strong enough for what?" but before she could say another word the snake sanin had formed a familiar hand-signal and she knew what was coming. She had seen this once before in the Forest of Death when team 7 entered the second stage of the Chunin Exams.

Orochimaru's head coiled up, like a snake, from his body and he aimed straight for her neck, but she did her best to block the oncoming attack but the contact was inevitable. He had bitten her on her upper, left forearm and she felt the searing hot pain immediately. He let her go and she dropped to her knees, scratching and clawing at the spot where the new bruise-like mark shown on her arm.

She screamed it was all she could do. She screamed and claimed that she was on fire. Had it been this intense when Sasuke got his curse-mark? He couldn't remember.

Sakura's pain became too much and then, all she saw was darkness.

**All right, so I decided to update earlier than planned, but I hope you liked it. I'll get to work on the next chapter soon, I promise! **

**Please, please, please review!!!!!!!**

**Until next time!**

**Ja ne!!! XD**


	3. Personal Questions

**Hey everybody!! Thanks again for reading!! (remember to review!!) XP! Not much to say, except this chapter took a long time to write! I hadn't thought out the plot for this chapter when I posted Chapter 2, so I was kind of lost for a while! Hope you like it!!! REMEMEBER TO REVIEW!!! Please and thank you! XDD**

**Chapter 3**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

_Where am I? Who's that girl there? The pink haired nin looked to a small girl crying in front of her. Why is she crying?_

_'Hey. Why are you crying?' her voice sounded distant. The girl looked up but didn't reply. Suddenly the girl grew an evil grin that miss-matched the little, delicate features_

_'Don't you recognize me, Sakura? I'm you.' The little girl spoke with a voice of a snake; clear and cold. The girl began to tear away the skin around her eye. Her eyes were now snake-like; yellow with slits for pupils._

_Sakura was over flooded with fear and surprise. Eyes wide 'What do you want?' she spoke._

_'I want you. I want your power. Give it to me.' The girl said with such a wanting that made Sakura tremble. The girl continued to take away the skin on her face until it revealed the face of Orochimaru._

_Suddenly, she felt pain and panic. As if every fiber of her being was being torn away. She couldn't help but scream._

"AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!" Sakura woke with a start. She was trembling. _What's wrong with me?_ Sakura focused on the feeling deep inside her. What was it? _Is it bloodlust?_ Yes. She somehow recognized it in herself beneath something else. _Power. Unbeatable power._ She noticed her left hand that clutched the sheets wasn't normal either. She gasped.

It was like fire spread across her skin. _Is this the power of the curse mark? Unbelievable! This power is amazing, I've never felt anything like it before, _she noted. Her skin was covered in black patches and swirls. They matched those of Sasuke's. Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt a presence.

"Ah, Sakura-san! I see you're awake. I assume you feel your new power?" Kabuto. He was always the one to talk first. She nodded.

"That's good! However, we can't allow you to keep using it your first day; too much bloodlust they say. Just relax and close your eyes", he stated.

She did as she was told and felt the marks receding off her face and hands, back to the mark on her arm. She opened her eyes again and looked at the curse-mark. It was like Sasuke's but in reverse. They were comma shapes but the instead of the points facing out they were facing inwards toward the center. _Weird, _she thought,_ could this be the opposite of Sasuke's mark? _ She thought this a possibility, but decided not to dive to far into the problem.

"How long was I sleeping?" Sakura asked.

"Only about 3 days….Sakura-san, you're a medic-nin?" Kabuto replied and let the question pop out of his mouth. She nodded.

"Yes, Tsunade-shishou taught me everything I know."

"I see…so you must be pretty powerful then."

Sakura only looked down into the white sheets.

"Well," Kabuto went on, "You're welcome to stay here and rest, but if you're feeling up to it, I believe Sasuke-kun and Orochimaru-sama are training again. You may go and practice with them if you like."

She smiled at him. "Yeah, I'd like that."

"Okay then, why don't you get yourself cleaned up, and I'll tell them that you'll be joining them shortly."

Sakura jumped out of the bed and raced down the hall to her room. When she got in her room she locked the door and picked out a fresh pair of clothes. She walked to the bathroom and turned on the shower and stepped into the warm needles as they massaged her back. She rinsed her hair a couple times and washed the dirt and blood from her previous fight away.

As soon as she was done she turned off the water and stepped out onto the cold concrete floor to dry herself off. Her short pink locks were still dripping when she put her clothes on and raced out the door.

Sakura followed the corridors until she found the exit to the training grounds. She slowed to a walk until she could catch her breath and stopped at the end of the corridor.

There was no door, just open space that framed the outside world to people who would pass this specific corridor.

As Sakura looked around the clearing, she noticed Sasuke and Orochimaru farther down the clearing. Orochimaru was watching Sasuke, arms folded. Sasuke was battling the last stranglers of a large crowd of bodies on the ground. Sakura walked closer and noticed Sasuke didn't have a single scratch on him. She had to admit; this was a feat that even she would be envious of.

"Ah Sakura-chan, I see your feeling better. Would you like to join Sasuke down there or would just like to watch and see how he fairs against this last group here?" Orochimaru asked her as her turned around to greet her with his disgustingly friendly smile.

"I think he can handle himself." Sakura replied as she sat down on a grassy patch near the edge of the clearing.

It was only about another hour before Sasuke finished with the last 50 opponents and left them to the large, groaning sea of injured people beneath him. He climbed over the people as he reached his way to Orochimaru and Sakura.

"Nice job, Sasuke-kun." Sakura stated tauntingly. He just glared at her.

"Sasuke-kun, you may take a break." Orochimaru said then turned his attention to Sakura, "Now it's your turn Sakura-chan. I think I'll give you 50 people to start with." With that 50 sound-nin appeared before her in the clearing.

"Sounds like fun." She replied with a wicked grin and she took off.

Taking out the first five with a powerful roundhouse kick, they all doubled over in pain. The next ten charged at her all at once and she punched the ground around her feet, creating a crater that swallowed the small group opponents. She jumped into the air and took out several kunai and flung them at the troupe of sound-nin below. She heard several cries of pain and a few grunts as some of the injured fell to the ground. She noticed several shuriken whizzing her way from below and did a few hand signals. The shuriken hit her and then POOF! She used a clone and appeared behind a few of her opponents and dug kunai into they're spinal cords, crippling them instantly.

Shouts of pain continued until Sakura finished with the last two nin by simply throwing some shuriken at them. She wasn't sure how long it took her to defeat them all but the sun had already moved towards the horizon and was beginning to sink. She was a little tired but not enough to be breathing heavy. Sakura looked down at herself and realized she had indeed gotten a few scratches here and there but nothing gruesome. She sighed and focused the chakra in her hands and healed up the little cuts as Orochimaru walked over.

"Very good Sakura-chan, however, I think we need to find you a signature weapon. If you're always doing hand-to-hand combat then that leaves many weak spots. You need to master all ranges of combat before you can become a strong shinobi." He said with certainty. Sakura nodded, "Sasuke-kun, go tell Kabuto that he needs to get ready for tomorrow. Tomorrow we'll be leaving for the East lair. I think Karin has a few weapons there that would suit you Sakura-chan. You're both dismissed."

Sasuke and Sakura left the clearing together and walked silently next to each other down the hall. The silence was like fog around their heads it was so heavy. Sakura didn't like it, not one bit.

"Ne, Sasuke who's Karin?" Sakura asked to break the quiet air.

"She's an advisor at the East lair. She watches over the keep while Orochimaru stays here." Sasuke replied, noticing that she had left the –kun off at the end of his name.

"Ahh, sooka! Is she strong?"

"…no."

"Hmm, I see, is she pretty?"

Sasuke looked at her while she walked along the corridor beside him, then looked back down the corridor.

"No." he replied.

"Ah, and what's she look li-"

"Orange hair and eyes; she wears glasses. She's short and annoying."

"I see, so you don't like her either? What about the second part of your dream? Reviving the clan and stuff, right?"

Sasuke glared ahead and stayed silent.

"Sorry, personal question. Well, see you tomorrow, Sasuke-_kun._" She called behind her as she continued to walk down a different corridor that led to her room. The emphasis on –kun had been teasing, the way she said it.

Sasuke turned down another hall and walked until he found Kabuto in his medical research lab. He relayed the news to the silver-haired medic-nin and turned again to go down another hallway that also led to his room. _Tomorrow could be interesting. _He thought to himself._ Karin is definitely going to give Sakura a hard time. Then again, with her new attitude, Sakura might not even care. She'll probably use her medic jutsu to shut her up. Can't blame her; Karin never shuts up. _

Sasuke pondered what would happen if Sakura and Karin got in a fight, but then decided that he would most likely find out tomorrow as he lay down on his old, lumpy bed and fell asleep.

**All right so there's chapter 3, not that exciting and kind of short but I promise the next Chapter's going to be better!! Hands down it's going to be the best chapter so far, well in my opinion anyways!! XD! REVIEW!!!!!! PLEASE, REVIEW!!!**

**Ja ne!!**

**PS. Don't forget to review!!! XDD**


	4. Now and Then

**All right!! This is chapter 4 everybody!!!! Long awaited and forever to type!!! Remember, it's you guys who keep the story going, if you want more chapters, you need to review!! Deal? Okay good! XDD hope you like it!! It's a long one, just like I promised! BRACE YOURSELVES!!! XDDD**

**Chapter 4**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

Sakura woke with a start as she heard pounding on her door. _UGH! Do they have to do that?! _Sakura inwardly groaned.

"Sakura. We're leaving." A velvet voice spoke from behind the door.

Sakura sat up, stick straight. _LEAVING?_ Sakura jumped from the bed and ran to the bathroom to look in the mirror. She looked presentable; she decided to save the shower for when they got there. She ran back out into the main room, stripping her old clothes as she went. _Thump, thump, thump._ The door was about ready to fall off its hinges.

"ALL RIGHT ALREADY!!! I'm up!! Give me two minutes, Sasuke!!! Jeez!" she screamed at the door. A mumbled 'hn' was audible outside the door. _Typical Sasuke._ She thought to herself.

Sakura scrambled around the room, finding things to wear. She only found her usual outfit and put it on quickly. The usual accessories only took two seconds to add to her attire. She grabbed her boots and ran to the door. She swung it open was about to high tail it down the hall, when she ran into something hard causing her to fall on her butt on the floor.

"OOF!!" She said when she landed.

"Get up. We're leaving." A tall looming Sasuke stated again. He turned and started down the hall.

"Why didn't you wake me up earlier than this?" No reply. Sakura grabbed her boots and hopped after Sasuke, sliding her boots on one by one. Once she had her boots on she ran after Sasuke. "HEY! Uchiha, if you woke me up late on purpose, you are gonna get such a thrashing!!!"

"Hn."

Sakura's anger flared. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, HN? IT'S NOT EVEN A REAL WORD!!!!! GAH!!!!!!!" she finally caught up and fell in stride next to him. "You are such a…a…insufferable, arrogant…." She failed to find words that could possibly sting him enough.

He looked at her, "A what?" Her eyes narrowed. She looked ahead of her, still angry. "Hn." He said again and looked ahead. She assumed it was his form of 'that's what I thought'. Suddenly, she had an idea and something inside her snapped. She grinned that same wicked grin she had on the day of her arrival.

"I wonder what Itachi would think if he saw you here with Orochimaru?" she cooed sadistically all the while smirking. His head snapped to her direction, sharigan activated. Sakura looked at him through the corner of her eye. "Or better yet, wouldn't he be _so proud_ of his otouto, to see him so big and stro-" She didn't have time to finish her sentence. Sasuke had pinned her to the wall; one hand holding her left arm behind her back, the other on the back of her head smashing her skull into the wall.

She grinned wider. She used her strength enhancing chakra and right hand to push her head away from the wall. She jumped with both legs in the air and kicked the wall with inhuman strength, sending her into the opposite wall, with Sasuke behind her. She heard him release a small grunt as his back collided with the brick barrier. She felt his grip loosen and pulled away from him and turned to face him.

He was hunched over just a little as he pulled out of yet another crater in the brickwork. He was still glaring at her, onyx eyes returned to normal. She grinned down at his bent form, noticing a small trail of blood exiting the corner of his mouth. He swiped it away with the back of his hand and straightened up, not once breaking contact with jade eyes, until his head stood nearly another head above hers.

"Hn, let's go." He nearly spat as he broke eye contact and continued down the corridor. She followed him staying a few paces behind, until they came to an open doorway leading outside. The two nin slowed their pace when they saw Orochimaru and Kabuto waiting for them, with cloaks on, near a tree.

"Ah! Sakura-san, Sasuke-kun, what took you? The silver haired sound-nin asked. Sasuke and Sakura glared at each other, and no answer was given. Kabuto took that as warning to not ask further questions about it, "Sakura-san, you forgot your travel cloak, but we have one for you. One for you as well Sasuke." He handed them each a black cloak, and with that they both swung on the cloaks and clicked the clasps closed.

"Are we all set then?" Kabuto chimed to break the silence. Sakura nodded and Sasuke 'hn'ed while Orochimaru said nothing. "Right then, let's head out." The four nin took off through the treetops.

They had traveled for three and a half hours with no trouble, until Sakura's stomach growled. All three men looked around to her. She couldn't help but blush _a little_.

"How about a quick stop?" Kabuto suggested, "Looks like someone hasn't eaten breakfast." They all stopped at once and landed in a small clearing. Kabuto had gathered a few twigs and braches and built a small fire. Sakura sat in front of the fire as Sasuke stood on the opposite side of the clearing, arms crossed and Orochimaru a few feet away leaning against a tree, arms also crossed. Kabuto left to catch some fish in a nearby stream._ How did he know there was a stream over there? _Sakura thought, and then it hit her. _Duh! They've been in these woods probably hundreds of time before._ It only took a few minutes of silence before Kabuto arrived with two dead fish.

"Only two fish? What about those two?" Sakura questioned and motioned to the two raven haired nins.

Kabuto sharpened two sticks and stuck the fish on them. "If they want food they'll have to get it themselves. These" he nodded towards the now-roasting creatures, "are for you and me!" He replied happily. On the other side of the clearing Orochimaru smirked at the naivety of his gray-haired apprentice.

Once the fish were fully cooked, Sakura took hers and ate it hungrily. Kabuto and Sakura had conversed in small, simple conversations just to break the silence. They were nearly finished when they all felt a presence. Kabuto stood up and turned around, Sakura just looked around behind her shoulder the same as Sasuke, and Orochimaru's smirk had faded.

They were coming, about four of them at best. Sakura guessed the distance between the rest area and their approaching guests. _About 20 kilometers, and they're approaching fast, _she guessed again.

"Orochimaru-sama!" Kabuto called. Then snake sanin stood up and smirked.

"Come Kabuto, we'll let Sakura-chan and Sasuke-kun reminisce with their old friends." He calmly stated. He held up his hands and formed a seal, and with that Orochimaru and Kabuto both disappeared behind separate clouds of black smoke.

Sakura's eyes widened. What friends? Had _they_ come to somehow get her back? She stood up and realized Sasuke was standing next to her. She thought of who it was coming to get them. _It can't be them! NO!_ She nearly puked at the thought of _them_ still wanting to reach her after that. The fire was put out. When had Sasuke done that? She felt her body going numb. Her vision was becoming clouded with memories. She was going to crack under the pressure soon.

_10 kilometers!_ Why are they so eager to get here? Surprised by the speed at which the group was approaching. She started to tremble. _Why? WHY?_ Why had they come looking for her? She didn't want to see them anymore. She thought she had made that clear when writing that letter. Her head was spinning, she couldn't think. _5 kilometers and closing._ They had picked up speed again. They were close; there was no getting away now. She trembled harder, she tried to compose herself, but she couldn't control herself anymore. What was happening? She didn't understand, she was confused-

"Sakura. Calm down." Sakura jumped at the voice but looked over to find a familiar raven-haired nin looking straight ahead, brows creased. She calmed a little, but still found it hard to breathe evenly. She relaxed a little more and began to breathe. She shook her head clear of any thoughts or memories. _1 kilometer and closing._ She felt a bead of sweat on her brow as she bit her lip awaiting this group of "old friends". She felt bitter bile rising in her mouth and she found her own two brows being pushed together at the thought of _them_.

They were only 50 yards away when the group stopped moving. _Are they planning something?_ Sakura thought. Just as she finished her thought, she felt six unusual presences surrounding her and Sasuke. _What ever they are they're not human…._ Sakura contemplated on what could be surrounding them but was cut short, when rustling was heard all around them. Six tigers prowled out into the opening. These tigers were no ordinary tigers, though. These were ink tigers, a nin-jutsu used by only one certain artist-nin.

The tigers moved in closer, thinning the size of the clearing with every step. Then they stopped. _What's going on? _Sakura thought quickly. Suddenly four ninja stood in front of her and Sasuke. She looked over the familiar faces. _Yamato-sensei, Sai, Kakashi-sensei, and…_ her eyes stopped on the last nin in the row. Crazy blonde locks stood in every direction, blue eyes shifting between the two missing nin carefully, mysterious whisker marks on his cheeks. _…and Naruto._ She struggled with the name in her head. He was her best friend, yet he had said those things along with the others.

Her mind and face contorted with rage at he site of her old teammates. Sasuke stayed with the same emotionless expression as always.

"Sasuke!" Naruto cried, "Give back Sakura-chan or I'll-"

"DON'T CALL ME 'SAKURA-CHAN' LIKE YOU'RE MY FRIEND!!!" Sakura screamed at the kyuubi nin. Her fist balled and her nails dug into flesh causing blood to flow from half-moon scars.

"S-Sakura-chan…" he couldn't find any words to say. He was surprised at her sudden outburst. What on earth was she talking about? They had been friends since they were genin. They were inseparable. "What are you saying, Sakura-chan? We came here to rescue you and that teme!"

Sakura couldn't help but laugh and grin a little. "Did it ever cross your mind while you were reading my note, that I don't want to be rescued?!" her voice elevated a little at the end of her cold and heartless statement. She continued to chuckle at his naivety. She looked back at all her old friends, they all looked taken aback. Even Sai, though his look disappeared as soon as it crept up on his face.

"Hey, old hag" this time it was Sai addressing her, "come back with us to Konoha or we'll take you by force, that goes for Sasuke-kun as well." His gaze shifted to the stoic Uchiha and back.

"We're not coming back." Sakura spat.

"B-but Sakura-chan-" Naruto interjected.

"I told you! Don't call me that!!!" she cried out, "You're all just two-faced bastards who want nothing more than to see me admit, that I'm just a failure!" her eyes darted back and forth over the four leaf-nin as she pierced them all with her cold glares. "OH! Don't act as if you all don't know what I'm talking abo-" she was cut off by her former gray-haired sensei.

"Sakura!" he put out warningly, "come back to Konoha. We don't want to hurt you."

"Well it's a bit too late for that isn't it?!" She screamed hysterically. Her mind was collapsing on her. It was becoming darker inside her mind, she was going to break soon, and anything would trigger it…anything.

"Sakura-chan we jus-" It was Naruto again, but she snapped. The added suffix was all she needed to reach past breaking point. She moved faster than any of them could have imagined.

BAM!!

She had Naruto against a tree, her hand a firm grip around his neck. She had her signature wicked grin, that Sasuke had grown to know all to well in the past few days. She was out of control; he needed to get her out of here.

Sakura tightened her grip and Naruto began to struggle. His hand clawed at hers, but her inhuman strength was too much. His nails dug into her flesh and drew bits of blood but she was unfazed.

"Deadweight, huh?" she chuckled some more, "Weakling? Is that what you think of me?" Her grip tightened a little more and her grin grew more across her pale skin.

_Sakura! _Kakashi thought. He needed to help Naruto, but Sakura's actions right now seemed sinister. It seemed that if he even breathed she would have him in the same predicament as Naruto. He hated it but he signaled to the other leaf-nin to stand down. They understood almost as if they had read his mind and nodded. Kakashi took a chance and looked back at Sasuke. His eyes seemed to have a bit of concern in them, but Kakashi was positive it was just a concentrating look. _Probably trying to find a way out of this. We have to stop this before-_ his train of thought collided with a wall of sounds of struggle.

Sakura's grip was getting stronger causing Naruto's face to turn red, due to lack of oxygen. Her grin seemed to have taken over on her face it was so wide. She continued her one-sided conversation with the struggling Naruto.

"I know all about the secret S-class mission on that day! I know every word you said. Deadweight." her grip tightened, "Weakling!", again it tightened. Naruto's eyes were wide as he recalled the same day. His face was turning blue; he fought against her vise-like grip.

_Sakura had woken up early. She decided to get to work early that morning to try and finish up some files for Tsuande-shishou, since the unlucky Godaime was busy with other things. She found that the streets were fairly quiet this early in the morning, save for a few bakery shops preparing their dough for later that day when they got an order for a few loafs of bread or some sweets. Sakura smiled at them as she passed by, to have the kind gesture returned to her._

_When she reached the Hokage tower, she silently walked through the halls, trying her best not to disturb anyone who would probably be sleeping at this hour. She giggled at the thought of her shishou, fallen asleep on her desk again from a long night of paperwork._

_Sakura reached the door to the Hokage's office and reached her hand out for the door handle. She stopped when she heard voices inside._

"_Sakura's too valuable to this city, you need her here for the hospital." Sakura recognized the voice as her old sensei from genin days. __**Kakshi-sensei? What's he doing here at this hour? A better question why are they talking about me?**_

"_Sakura is a strong kunoichi! She will be an asset to your group on this mission!" That was Tsunade. Her strong voice audible through the thick door._

"_But Obaa-chan!" Sakura gasped at the new voice. __**Naruto?! What's he doing here with Kaksahi and Shishou?**__ "We don't want Sakura to get hurt! This is an S-class mission!!"_

"_I'm quite aware of the level of the mission, Naruto! However, do you all really think that she hasn't progressed over these two and a half years?"_

"_We have no doubt that she's progressed at an extraordinary rate Tsunade-sama, but with the requirements of the mission, I think she would just slow us down" It was Kakashi again. Sakura gasped. They really thought all that about her?_

_Tsunade was about to object when another voice chimed in. "Tsunade-sama, I think what Kakashi says is the truth" __**SAI, TOO?! Jeez what is this? A talk about Sakura party or something?**__ Sakura thought again. Sai continued to speak, "She maybe able to help us with her skill on the field, but we will be traveling at a speed she's not used to. I think if she came with us, she would only be a deadweight along the journey."_

_Tsunade was silent, __**Is she really thinking it over? No way!**_

"_Naruto? You feel the same?" No response, but Tsunade continued so he must have nodded. "Kakashi?" A pause. No answer but the fifth hokage continued, so Sakura took that as a yes from Kakashi. Tsunade sighed. "I can't believe I'm letting you off the hook. This mission needs to be done and you're the only team left. I will let you go, but none of you must tell Sakura of this mission! There's no need to arouse suspicion from her if she found out that she was not to go along on this mission. I hope you all know what you're doing……dismissed."_

_Sakura ran away down the hall and up the stairs. If they caught her, who knows what could have happened? She stopped midway up the stairs, she was hidden from view now, and this was the opposite way from the exit, they wouldn't come this way. Even so, she held her breath at the receding sounds of footsteps down the hall. Once the footsteps had gone, she went down the stairs. She looked both ways to check and see if the coast was clear. Not one person in sight._

_Sakura ran silently down the hall, pushing chakra into her feet as she approached the door picking up speed. She burst through the door at a breakneck speed. She started to recall the events of this morning in her head. __**Deadweight….weakling…unwanted…**__ the words seemed to swirl in head. Her vision blurred and she new she was going to cry. Nobody would have noticed though, because the sky broke open and began to cry, too._

_Cold rain fought with the tearstains on her red cheeks, worn from wiping away viscously at the tears. She had to get out of here! If they didn't want her then why should she stay in a place like this?_

_Sakura ran back to her house only grabbing a few necessary things and tossing them in her bag. She threw on her traveling cloak and took a piece of paper. She wrote a short note explaining that she was leaving and didn't want anyone to come after her. She left the note on the counter of her apartment and closed the door. She didn't bother to lock it seeing as how she wouldn't be returning and wouldn't need any of her things to be kept safe._

_She turned on the back road leading out of the city. This would be the last time she would see this place. She took a deep breath and turned around again and left._

Naruto and Sakura both seemed to think of the same thing at the same time. Naruto's eyes widened more as he struggled for breathe. Sakura was furious at the memory now. She clenched her hand around his neck.

Sasuke needed to stop this, if she didn't she would end up killing him. He didn't care for Naruto's life; he just didn't want to have to deal with Sakura if things got worse. He decided it was time to leave. He disappeared and reappeared behind Sakura.

"Sakura. Let go. We have to leave." He told her calmly. She looked over her shoulder at him, still grinning like mad.

"Stay out of this, Uchiha." She said, smirking. He narrowed his eyes and sensed movement behind him. Four shuriken were hurling their way. He grabbed Sakura; one arm around her waist and the other around the front of her shoulders. They disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.

Naruto's eyes widened more at the now oncoming shuriken. He couldn't scream, his throat hurt too much. He let himself collapse to the ground, gasping for air, and let the shuriken collide with the tree.

Naruto choked on the air as he tried to get enough in to fill his lungs. All three nin stood stunned. They had let them get away, but if Sasuke hadn't interjected when he did, they would've have gotten Sakura and Sasuke, but at the cost of Naruto's life. They had no choice but to let them go.

Sasuke and Sakura appeared in front of an old underground base. Probably once used as a secret base during a war. Sakura's grin faded once she realized she was no longer choking the kyuubi-nin. She didn't move and neither did Sasuke. He was probably waiting for her to make a move.

"Why did you intervene? Let go of me." She demanded with venom in her voice.

"No." he replied, "Not until you relax. I can't risk you going back there and blowing our cover."

"I am relaxed."

"Hn."

"Let go!"

"No."

She growled._ Fine! Have it your way!_ She grabbed onto his arm and bit down through the soft material of his shirt and arm guards. Luckily, his arm guards were made of fabric like hers or her attempts would have been useless. He didn't move. She bit harder. He finally gave a hn, as a response and let go. As soon as he did Sakura, turned on him and let a low hiss escape past her lips.

"Next time, don't interfere!" she said through clenched teeth.

"Hn." Came his single response. She growled again, but he paid no attention to her as he turned and started to walk towards Orochimaru's East lair. She waited for a bit and realized trying to argue with him would be like trying to take Ramen away from Naruto. She sighed sadly as she thought of what just happened, but chose instead to wave it off and followed Sasuke into the secret base.

It didn't take long to find Orochimaru and Kabuto. They were with another person in a vault full of weapons. Probably discarded weapons from enemies defeated or stolen from warehouses in poor villages. Sakura looked at the other person. She recognized her perfectly thanks to Sasuke's vague description.

_Wow._ Sakura thought,_ Sasuke was actually right! This girl really is ugly!_ Sakura studied the features of the girl. The girl was bland and boring, certainly nothing special. Her glasses were black and thick-rimmed. Her bronze-orange hair stuck out all over the place and it was longer; maybe a couple inches past her shoulders. The girl's frame was delicate yet well built, but Sakura could tell that this girl wasn't a threat. _Her chakra level is extremely low, _Sakura pondered in her mind.

Sakura almost laughed when she saw what the girl was wearing, a long-sleeve mauve colored shirt with a double zipper in the front. The zipper on the bottom was undone enough to show her belly button, while the one on top was fully zipped. The girl was wearing black shorts, which Sakura thought, were too short to be legally worn by _any _ninja. Sakura noticed the girl had boots on that reached mid-thigh. A plain outfit.

_So this is Karin, huh? She doesn't seem very annoying. _Sakura thought as she recounted Sasuke's description. Her thought was soon revoked as the girl opened her mouth to speak.

"Sasuke! Where have you been? And who is this you have with you?" her voice was like nails on a chalkboard to Sakura. Sakura clenched her teeth as the questions continued, "Eww, her hair is pink. It doesn't look very clean, either. Sasuke! Come take a walk with me! I'm sure we'll have lots to talk about!" she finished by grabbing onto Sasuke's arm and trying to lead him out of the room. He didn't move. "Oh, I get it Sasuke!" Karin went on, "this girl's your girlfriend!"

"WHAT?!" Sakura screamed in surprise. That was the most ridiculous thing she'd ever heard!

"Oh well, Sasuke! Forget about her! You'll be much happier with me by your side!" Karin cooed. Sakura's temper flared. How dare she!! _OOH!! The nerve of this girl! _Sakura thought angrily. _Wait 'till I get my hands on you, you bi-_ Sakura's thoughts were interrupted.

"Karin! Umm…" It was Kabuto, "shouldn't you be patrolling the prisoners right about now?" Sakura was actually grateful for Kabuto this time. Karin let go of Sasuke, blew him a kiss and left down the hall.

Once she was out of earshot, she screamed, "OOH!!! THAT GIRL!!!!"

"U-umm, Sakura-san! Please, try and stay calm. Karin's always like that." Kabtuo tried to cool down Sakura's temper and it worked a little bit, but she still wanted to wring that girl's neck! No, what was she saying? She had a whole_ room_ of weapons she could mutilate that girl's face with!! _Oh-oho, yeah! But which one should I use first? _Sakura looked around the room of weapons. There were many swords, and daggers, a few scythes, some clubs and axes of many sizes. All in all, there were about 50 different types of weapons.

"So Sakura-chan? Do you see anything that interests you?" Orochimau questioned with his famous, too-friendly smirk. She looked around once more and her eyes rested on a single weapon. It had two sheaths, one on either side, connected with a short middle poll. She undid the latches on either of the sides and pulled out the large, oversized weapon.

She has seen them painted on old scrolls at the library. They had two large blades on either side of a short pole. _Pole Blade? Is that the name?_ Sakura asked herself as she eyed the weapon. Though, many she had seen were certainly not as ornate as this one. Both blades seemed to be encrusted with turquoise and jade, giving the metal a bluish-green tint. The blades were sharpened all around the edges and there were carvings on either side of each blade. The carvings were pieces of art in themselves; swirls and clouds of cutout steel marked their way along the edges and corners of the blades.

But, the most interesting thing was the shape of the blades themselves. They looked as if it were to be one blade separated by a mirror. The curves and bends in the metal matched perfectly. They were wide and they curved at the bottom and formed up into-She stopped an thought about the shape of the cold steel…_it's almost like cloud shapes were cut out of the metal._

It was a magnificent weapon. She decided she'd like to try this thing out.

"Excellent choice, Sakura-chan. We'll start training here tomorrow. Today, I think you two should have some rest." Orochimaru signaled to Kabuto to take them to their rooms. Sakura quickly sheathed the large weapon, and swung it on her shoulder. It was heavier than she'd expected and it's weight nearly knocked her to the ground. _This, is gonna take some getting used to,_ she thought silently to herself. She adjusted the weapon on her shoulder and nodded to Kabuto that she could handle it.

"All right then," Kabuto laughed, "Follow me, this way."

The two nin followed Kabuto and down the hall to the left, as he made another left he started to break the silence.

"Gomenasai, Sakura-san, Sasuke-kun already knows this but, there are a limited amount of rooms in this base….you won't be able to have your own room." He said, she seemed confused by why he would tell her this, "and to save you and Karin from getting in some sort of argument I think it would be best if you stayed with Sasuke-kun within these next few days."

"Next few days? Wait a second! I thought we were only staying for today!! I didn't bring…any…extra…clothes…" Sakura looked down to her feet. Her face felt hot. How could she be so stupid to think they were only staying one day? Orochimaru most likely had to stay to see how things were at this lair. Then she heard Kabuto laugh. She looked up.

When he calmed himself a little he spoke, "You forgot to bring clothes?! Oh well, we have a few things here I'm sure. I'll try and find something and bring it to you later."

"Arigotou, Kabuto-kun." She sighed. That was a relief! When they reached the room, she dropped the big weapon next to the foot of one of the twin beds, set up in the room. It was a small room; almost identical to the one she had back at the other secret base. Wooden door, candles on the walls, one bathroom, a small desk, and a medium sized dresser. It all looked the same. Except for the two beds. That was different.

She took the one on the right, laid her stuff down and flopped face down on the bed. She sighed again as she recalled the days events. It made her sad to think that she nearly killed her best friend, yet she didn't seem to be able to control herself. She knew deep down, that he deserved the worst.

She heard the door close, and looked around from behind her bangs. Kabuto had left and Sasuke was just standing there. She raised her eyebrows at him though she knew he couldn't see._ Freak,_ she thought. She heard him set his Katana down on the desk and relaxed a little. _At least I don't have to worry about him killing me tonight._ Sakura relaxed a little more and realized she was tired from the rough day. She let her eyes close a bit and she faintly heard the bathroom door close. The water was running;_ He's taking a shower, _Sakura thought lazily. The soft whir of the water pipes lulled Sakura into a deep, comfortable sleep on the lumpy mattress.

**There's chapter 4 finally!! Hope you enjoyed it!! Remember readers, you are the ones who keep this whole thing going!! You guys inspire me to keep writing so I'd REALLY appreciate if you guys just hit the little button and the bottom of the page, and type just a couple encouraging words!! XDD REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!! (it makes me happy!!)**

**Ja ne!!!!! X)**


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